Stoats, ferrets, or possums may immediately spring to mind when you think of New Zealand’s pests, but as Scotts College student Louis Davis explains, they aren’t the only ones wreaking havoc on our natural landscape.

Feral goats, found now in all three of our main islands, with population numbers estimated in the hundreds of thousands, are causing serious damage to native trees and plants with their tough horns, trampling hoofs and ripping teeth.

Current methods of controlling the feral goat population are either too expensive, logistically complicated or chemically hazardous. However, Davis believes he has the solution.

Click here to watch his presentation at this years Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards, where he makes the case for the mass planting of the toxic native Tutu plant as the most effective method of dealing with a goat problem spiraling out of control.

“Globally, The World Health Organisation estimates that food born illnesses affect one in ten people a year, while in 2009, the cost to New Zealand of the world’s six most common food-born illnesses was 161 million dollars. Meanwhile, the total value of our food waste annually is over half a billion dollars, with 30-50% of food never reaching human stomachs.”

These rather alarming statistics kicked off Auckland University student Bronwyne Wilde’s impressive presentation at this years Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards.

Click hereto see Bronwyn explain how a system emphasising ‘traceability, transparency and trust’ may be the answer to this worrying dilemma.

From a young age, us kiwis hear the terms ‘clean’, green’ and ‘100% pure’ applied to our country.

It is a source of great national pride, something that has attracted tourists from across the globe for decades as they seek an ‘untouched’, ‘unspoiled’ little corner of the world.

But it is a true reflection of New Zealand?

Mount Albert Grammar’s Ellen Zhang doesn’t think so.

In her presentation at this years Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards, Zhang suggests the 100% pure slogan is nothing more than a marketing myth, disguising the ugly truth of a nation with some serious emissions issues.

However, she also offers a solution.

Click here to watch her explain the potential of nanotechnology, a rapidly developing tool that may have the power to decrease energy use, pollution and greenhouse gasses, not just here, but across the world.

As the world population grows steadily toward its threshold, developing more sustainable, space conscious methods of food production has become a top priority.

For a time now, researchers have been investigating the possibilities of ‘vertical farming’, a practise by which the products of agriculture are grown in vertically stacked layers in order to maximise land space, negate the effects of variable climates on production and prevent the further degradation of global natural habitats.

For New Zealand, this system could be of monumental benefit, solving persisting issues with kiwi food production and providing a boon to the economy.

In her presentation at this years Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards, Rangiora student Eira Beverley-Stone broke down the complex science of vertical farming and offered it as the way forward in New Zealand’s agricultural future.

The concept of Geoengineering - a deliberate, large-scale manipulation of the Earth’s climate system to mitigate the adverse effects of global warming - has faced considerable scepticism in the 50-60 years since its introduction.

This is hardly unexpected; many find the notion of employing human, technological intervention to solve issues that were, in the first place, caused by human intervention and technology, somewhat oxymoronic.

However, as the effects of climate change become increasingly measurable and catastrophic, and scientists continue to voice their support of the idea, it may be in our best interests to shelve natural human scepticism and give the possibilities of geoengineering reasonable consideration.

This is the credo of Otago University student Grace Cowley, who’s presentation at this year’s Sir Paul Callaghan Eureka! Awards looked at how practises like solar radiation management and ocean fertilisation could be of significant aid in the battle against rising global temperatures.